Lighting up the night in Mount Laurel

By Sally FriedmanSpecial to the BCT

Sunday

Dec 25, 2011 at 12:01 AMDec 25, 2011 at 12:15 AM

MOUNT LAUREL — It began, like so many passions do, as just casual curiosity. When Dave Harker learned of a unit that might add preprogrammed music to a Christmas display several years ago, he went out and bought it.

“But I had way too many lights, and I fried the unit,” he recalled.

But the interest continued, and long before the next Christmas, the technology manager at Johnson & Johnson began puttering again, this time checking online for a better setup.

He found one called Light-O-Rama, which offered more capacity and didn’t have those preprogrammed songs. So three years ago, Harker’s home was ablaze in 14,000 lights with synchronized music.

“People were stopping to stare at the house,” he said, “and I heard some nice comments.”

By last year, he’d made the leap from his original setup to one that involved 26,000 lights, and created a far more spectacular light show in his Fulton Drive neighborhood.

By then, he knew how to shop for relative bargains, and the results, in terms of the holiday light show, were dazzling. In 2010, there also was the addition of a 19-foot tree, with its own 8,000 lights performing amazing feats.

It would stand to reason that a man as dedicated as Harker to building on this holiday tradition wouldn’t stop there.

He didn’t.

Christmas 2011 has brought a spectacle that is easier seen and experienced than described.

Suffice it to say that using 27 channels, or “segments” of light, there are leaping arches, multiple trees, reindeer, and a total of 35,000 lights that would stretch for 2 miles, laid back to back.

A symphony in reds, greens and golds and offering the most intricate “ballet” of lights, adults are as dazzled as kids by the display.

The song list, accessed via any car radio tuned to 91.1 FM, includes such classics as “Silent Night,” the “Music Box Dancer” from “The Nutcracker,” “Deck the Halls” by Mannheim Steamroller, and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Miley Cyrus.

Linus and Lucy of “Peanuts” fame also can be heard reading a snippet of the Christmas story, and there are takeoffs from the comedic “Christmas Vacation” movie.

The extravaganza attracts carloads of gapers, and Dave and his wife, Denise, who is her husband’s staunch supporter in the project, often hand out candy canes to the children leaning out of their car windows in awe.

Visitors may have no idea that preparations for this light and sound holiday show begin months before Christmas and are in full swing by summer and fall.

“I actually started the planning of this year’s show in March and did a test setup in the yard in summer,” Harker said. “By October, I’m definitely spending a couple of hours on the project several nights a week.”

Of course, people ask why Harker bothers. And he doesn’t miss a beat.

“I love making people happy,” he said. “I love seeing families enjoying the show, so I guess it’s my small gift to others. And I like to keep busy — sitting around is not my thing.”

His sister’s husband, Tony Pietruszka, lends a hand with lighting the 19-foot tree, and neighbor Ed Locher also is invaluable in taking down the display shortly after the new year.

Denise Harker is very proud of her husband, and while the veterinary assistant at the Maple Shade Animal Hospital admittedly can’t help at all with the technicalities, she does offer moral support.

“He amazes me in his caring about others, and he has ever since we met 15 years ago. I fell in love with a very good man,” she said.

So thoughtful is Harker that he worries about disturbing his neighbors with the parade of cars that stops by. He often hands out printed fliers explaining a bit about the display — and reminding visitors to be considerate about turning off their headlights, not blocking the street, and going around the block rather than using neighbors’ driveways to turn around.

When people ask Harker how much it costs to run the display, he shrugs off the question: “It’s not as expensive as you may think — and it’s Christmas, so who really cares? Christmas is an opportunity to express love through giving.”

The Harker home is on Fulton Drive in Mount Laurel, off Millstream Drive. The light display/synchronized radio sound show begins at 5:30 p.m. and goes on until 10 on weekdays and 11 on weekends.

Courtesy for neighbors is requested, and car headlights should be turned off.

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